


The Long Way Round

by SakuraBlossomStorm



Series: AU Stories [2]
Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Adoption, F/M, Family, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Infertility
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 11:57:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraBlossomStorm/pseuds/SakuraBlossomStorm
Summary: While trying for a baby, Leslie and Ben discover something that changes their plans completely.





	The Long Way Round

**Author's Note:**

> For the 'I wish you would write a fic...' prompt - Ben & Leslie deal with infertility and that's how they end up with the triple cherries. Sent in by anon on tumblr.
> 
> This is very AU, because we all know the triple cherries happen the natural way!

Ben could only hear white noise. A surreal buzzing in his ears took over, leaving him stunned and unable to concentrate. Unable to listen to what the doctor was telling him.

He heard the most important part. Infertile. Not enough sperm being produced.

He felt like he was going to faint and gripped the edge of his seat to stop himself from toppling over. Suddenly, his left hand was engulfed with a warmth, a comforting touch that he could only assuming was coming from Leslie.

He looked up at her, and there she was, watching him with wide eyes that expressed anxiety and hurt.

Ben swallowed hard. She was ok. She was perfectly healthy and could easily carry a child. He was the problem, he was always the problem.

The doctor patted Ben on the shoulder sympathetically and handed Leslie several pamphlets on their next move. Leslie thanked the doctor for the both of them, and hurried to escort Ben out of the room.

~~

Ben tried to pull out his car keys with trembling hands, but nothing was working. His fingers too shaky to respond.

Fuck them, fuck his body, fuck his broken body that can’t even get his wife pregnant.

“Let me drive,” Leslie said kindly, reaching over to take his keys.

Ben let them fall into her hands, and staggered into the passenger side. He stared out of the window the entire drive home, pretending not to notice the tears clouding his vision.

Or the fact that Leslie was sniffling next to him as she drove.

~~

The dam broke once they got home.

Ben wanted a bath. He wanted to drown himself in scalding water and forget everything. He wanted to scrub off the shitstorm that was today.

He passed Leslie, refusing to touch her. He couldn’t. He had ruined everything.

As he walked up the stairs and towards their bathroom, Ben passed their study, or what was left of it.

They had cleared it out, ready to be painted and turned into a nursery. Their baby was supposed to grow up in this room. There was supposed to be a handmade crib and a rocking chair that Ron was going to make. It was supposed to be painting a light yellow because Leslie wanted to go neutral.

But now, nothing. It would just go back to being their study.

Ben gripped the doorframe and choked back a sob, just as Leslie came up the stairs.

She swallowed hard. “Ben.”

“I’m sorry,” Ben could only say as he crumpled to a heap on the floor. “I’m so sorry.”

Leslie dropped to her knees and pulled him into her arms, letting him sob against her chest. Tears of her own trickling down her cheeks and into Ben’s hair.

~~

“You know, if you want to look into finding a sperm donor, I’d be ok with that,” Ben said one evening.

It had been three weeks since they found out that they couldn’t have children. They hadn’t spoken about it at all, and just wanted to get back on track.

They drank a lot the first week, knocking back shots of vodka like it was water. The second week they went on a trip to Italy and ate all the pasta and calzones they could find.

But now, it was time to get back to reality. And the reality was that they both wanted kids, and needed to find a way around it.

Leslie looked up at him. “What’s brought this on?”

Ben shrugged. “We never really got a chance to talk about a plan B. And if you want to do the whole carrying a child thing, then I’d be fine with it, I can help you interview potential donors and-”

Leslie cut him off with a kiss. “You’re so sweet. What did I ever do to deserve someone as wonderful as you. But if I can’t have your baby then I don’t want to have anyone’s baby. I can’t just cut you out because of what the doctor said. No, I’m not doing that, I don’t want a sperm donor.”

“Then what do you want?” Ben asked. “I can’t provide the goods, and a sperm donor isn’t an option, what do you suggest?”

Leslie bit her lip, then leaned over, grabbing the pamphlets that the doctor gave them weeks ago. She thumbed through them, looking at their options, until she saw it.

“Here,” she said, handing Ben the leaflet. “This is what I want.”

Ben examined the pamphlet, and his eyes widened.

“Adoption?”

Leslie nodded. “Yeah. If I can’t have your baby, then I want a baby who doesn’t have a family. A baby who’s looking for a plan B. That’s what I want.”

Ben studied Leslie’s face. “Are you sure?”

Leslie nodded eagerly. “I’ve never been so sure in my life. I want to adopt, Ben.”

She took his hands in hers. “Don’t let this knock us back, you’ll be a great father, you know you will. Sadly, biology wasn’t on our side, and that’s ok. Because we’re going to make one little baby the luckiest, most loved baby in the world.”

Ben kissed the insides of her wrists sweetly. “You are so smart as always. You’re right, this is the right path for us. It took us a while to get there, but I’m all for adoption.”

Leslie nuzzled into Ben’s chest and kissed his neck. “It’ll be ok, I promise. We’ll get a baby, and no matter where it came from, it’ll be ours.”

Ben thought about making a quip about having a baby come from Eagleton, but the moment was too sweet to ruin.

~~

The next few months was a whirlwind of filling out paperwork, interviews to see if they were fit to be parents, home interviews to see if their hours was up to scratch, but Ben wouldn’t change it for the world.

Leslie had taken care of all the paperwork. She stayed up late doing her research and taking into consideration every option. Ben, of course was right behind her, making all the important decisions with her.

Things had been quiet for the moment, but they had passed all their interviews. They just had to wait for the phone call to say they had a baby coming. 

And one fateful Thursday evening, when Leslie and Ben were just about to get into bed, the phone rang.

Leslie answered it eagerly. “Hello? Hi Ann… wait, slow down…what?...are you serious?... I’ll… I’ll have to talk to him first, hold on, don’t have up.”

She lowered the phone from her ear and looked up at Ben, her eyes wide and shocked.

“Ben, there’s…someone abandoned triplets at St Joseph’s. Three beautiful newborns. They need parents and Ann recommended us. They…they want us to take the babies,” Leslie cried out to Ben, tears welling in her eyes.

Ben was just as wide eyed as Leslie. “Wait… triplets? Three? But… I thought we just wanted one?”

“But we’ve been waiting for so long just to get one, and here we have the option to get three at once,” Leslie said, taking a step closer to Ben. “I know it’s a shock and this is all happening so fast. But, Ben, these babies need a family, they need us.”

Ben looked at Leslie’s face. Tears were streaming down her face, and it wasn’t until he rubbed his cheek, he felt tears down his own face too.

He remembered what Ron said to him the day Leslie was elected for City Council. That they like to jump off cliffs into the unknown together.

This most definitely was a scary unknown, but one Ben wanted to explore.

“Tell Ann we’ll take them,” Ben said with a determined nod.

Leslie let out a relieved sob and pressed the phone back to her ear. “Ann, we’re coming, we’ll come meet our babies.”

She ended the call and jumped into Ben’s waiting arms, both of them crying the happiest tears they had ever shed. They were finally getting a baby, and hit triple cherries at the same time.

~~

“Aren’t they just the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen?” Leslie asked as she fed one of the boys with a bottle.

“They are beautiful,” Ben said, holding the other two babies, a boy and a girl.

Leslie and Ben arrived at the hospital in record time. They were led to a room where they could meet their babies for the first time. Also with them was a social worker, helping them fill out all the forms as they bonded with their children.

They called their friends telling them the good news. Jerry had insisted that he and Gail would give them all of their old baby clothes in preparation. Ron told them he was heading to his workshop as they spoke to make a triple crib, and Ann. Sweet, wonderful Ann who immediately thought of them when the babies were brought in, kept checking in every now and then to make sure everyone was ok.

It was chaotic, but perfect.

The babies were so small and helpless. The hospital had tracked down the mother after she left them in a cardboard box just outside the hospital, and she was taken for help, but she was adamant about one thing, she didn’t want them.

Leslie didn’t understand how someone could abandon them, they were just so perfect. Tiny little angels with adorable scrunched up faces and miniscule fingers and toes. They were hers.

“You’re set on the names, right?” Ben asked.

Leslie nodded. “This little guy just looks like a Stephen. I know it’s not possible, but he kind of looks like your dad.”

Ben peered over at the baby and grinned. “Hey, he does. He’ll be happy with that.”

He looked down to the two bundles in his arms. “And we have Wesley and Sonia here?”

Leslie nodded. “Yep, our angels.”

Ben chuckled, looking back down at the babies in his arms. Wesley yawned and closed his eyes, and Ben was in awe at these little miracles.

They may have taken the long way round, but they finally got their family.


End file.
